


Speed Dating

by justbygrace



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon verse, F/M, Multi-Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9575507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justbygrace/pseuds/justbygrace
Summary: Doctor/Rose. Together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> They had asked for Doctor/Rose speed-dating. This isn't really that.

It was years before she really understood. Understood that she was different, that she was special, that everything really would turn out okay. 

When she was young she was impatient, frustrated, annoyed - all the typical traits of a child just barely turned adult. He was surly, irritable, grumpy, and rude - actually the rude thing never really went away - and they argued more than they did anything else. He loved her and she thought she knew it then, but it wasn't until years (ages really) later that she truly knew it, knew it in that deep way that defies expectations and experiences and reality. He died for her and it was a long time before she understood what that meant.

He was younger next, younger and sexy and funny - all words and trailing coat and really great hair and it took her awhile to work out that it was all a massive magic trick, intended to deflect attention. They fought and danced in equal measures, and it was while revolving a black hole that they both started pretending it could last forever (the irony of that particular decision never failed to make her smile). And then came white walls and broken hearts and cold beaches and a reunion that wasn't until it was. The cost was enormous and she sobbed while nursing his next body to health.

The third version was younger still, younger and flailing and so very much colder. She would have been scared of him once upon a time, but this wasn't a fairytale and life had taught her that cold, dark things were always going to be right around the corner. She held his hand, but in a comfortable grip, one that left room for other companions and adventures and sometimes they split up to accomplish more, secure that they would be there at the end of the day. It wasn't easier to be together, but it wasn't harder than it needed to be either. She came to grip with her lifespan long before he did, but in the end he couldn't be angry, not after everything and when they teamed up with new friends to right old wrongs, he kissed her first, loved her first, and sacrificed himself for her.

After that he was older, scowling and swearing and perpetually angry and she loved him and ran interference with his moods and together they set out to do what they always did - help. 

As the years passed she sometimes forgot what happened with what body - was he younger or older when they faced this monster last time? was it the trench coat or the suspenders? - but she never failed to see what made him him, regardless of the trimmings. Eventually they stopped asking if the other was going to leave, content in their union, and loving with the familiarity of long-time lovers and the excitement of newlyweds. Her name was famous in its own right and she introduced him as often as he introduced her. 

There was heartbreak and pain and suffering. There was joy and friendship and hope. Their hands were intertwined more often than not and she still told him to stop making decisions for her and he still tried to protect her and they sometimes argued about the best way to handle a situation or the proper way to make toast. But through it and under it and over it, they were still the Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS. As it should be. Forever.


End file.
